How Many Bodies Do You Have?

Four Bodies—Built-In and Always On!

When I posed this question—"How many bodies do you have?"—to a room full of high school students (and of course the officials!) at the Summit of the Future: Hadaba Edition in September 2024, the answers ranged widely, from one to seven. Although I didn’t have the chance to hear their reasoning, I can imagine each answer had thoughtful justifications. But through my own scientific lens, I have a clear answer: we live in four bodies simultaneously interwoven, inseparable, and coexisting in a dynamic network of interaction.

The seed of this idea was first planted when I heard Arawana Hayashi speak. She described the concept of "three bodies" with such clarity and artistic precision that it shook me to my core. She spoke of this body (our physical body), this body (pointing to the earth beneath her feet, which she called the "Earth Body"), and this body (gesturing to the social sphere, the "social body"). As someone deeply engaged in developing a methodology for understanding, her perspective struck a chord.

My own exploration of the ontology of understanding—rooted in my work on the relationship between humans and technology—was further transformed when I encountered the work of Federica Russo. Her interactionist perspective illuminated aspects of the human-technology relationship I had previously overlooked, merging ontology and epistemology into a cohesive framework. Thanks to the insights of these two remarkable women, one an artist and the other a scientist, the Four-Body Model crystallized in my mind.

This model—comprising My Body, Earth Body, Social Body, and Techno Body—provides a lens for understanding the embodied mind and our actions within a richly interconnected web of existence. In this first essay, I invite you to focus on the first of these four dimensions: My Body.

Your Relationship with Your Body

Pause for a moment. Take a deep breath.
How connected are you to the body you inhabit?

Do you listen to your body? Can you hear what it’s trying to tell you? Gabor Maté, in his compelling book When the Body Says No, explains how the body eventually cries out when we ignore it for too long. By the time we hear that cry, the message is often urgent, unmistakable. But what if we didn’t wait for our bodies to shout? What if we learned to listen before the warning signs became deafening?

Listening to My Body

Our bodies are in constant interaction with the world around us. The clothes we wear, the temperature of a room, the humidity in the air, the scents, colors, and sounds—all these external factors engage directly with our physical selves. Through our five senses, our bodies are processing an enormous influx of data, continuously adjusting to maintain balance. This adaptation is no small feat; it’s an intensive task, often made easier in natural environments where the sensory input is less overwhelming.

But our bodies also contend with internal factors, such as the food and drink we consume. Science has shown us repeatedly that natural, unprocessed foods are easier for the body to metabolize, while processed foods disrupt its balance. And then there’s the impact of our thoughts—each one rippling through us as an "inner voice" that our cells listen to attentively.

The body we call "mine" is, in reality, part of a broader communication network. It is in constant dialogue with what Hayashi calls the Earth Body—the environment we inhabit. These two are deeply intertwined. If the air is polluted, my lungs are polluted. If the water is toxic, so am I. The Ubuntu philosophy encapsulates this beautifully: "I am because we are." The boundary between "self" and "environment" is artificial; in truth, we are profoundly interconnected.

The Body Speaks

Even as societal structures enforce divisions—between "self" and "nature," "individual" and "community"—The Bodyreminds us of the truth. These four bodies are, in fact, one unified Body. My Body and the Earth Body are not separate; we are one. And when something goes wrong in the Earth Body, My Body feels it too.

When the air is polluted, my lungs are polluted. When the soil is damaged, my nourishment is compromised. The Body resists. The Body says "no."

No matter how sharply society draws lines between us and the world, or between individuals and communities, The unified Body speaks—and it says no!

For now, I invite you to take another breath. Feel your Body. Listen to its quiet messages. What is it saying to you?

Are you ready to shape the future by listening to this unified Body?

In my upcoming essays, I will explore the Earth Body, Social Body, and Techno Body in depth.

Until then, take care and listen closely.

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